Andrew Rule: Prue Bird’s murder went unsolved for years

THE Ascot Vale shed where they locked Prue Bird before they killed her is gone. The 13-year-old was no runaway — but her case went unsolved for years. NEW PODCAST — LISTEN NOW.

THE shed where they locked Prue Bird before they killed her is gone. So is the house it belonged to in one of Ascot Vale’s better streets, between the showgrounds and the river.

The block was cleared recently and new townhouses built. Maybe the new occupants will never know what happened there. Out of sight, out of mind.

But out of sight is never out of mind for Prue’s mother, Jenny Bird.

She now knows who abducted her 13-year-old daughter and why they did it.

But she is tormented by not knowing when they killed her — and where they hid her body.

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Every morning she faces fathomless grief inflicted by an unspeakable crime.

It happened on a Sunday in summer — February 2, 1992.

Kieren Perkins would set a 1500m freestyle record that day, and George Bush Sr and Boris Yeltsin would sign papers to formally end the Cold War.

Christine Spalding woke early gripped with dread. She was sure something bad had happened to Jenny Bird, her oldest friend.

Prue Bird.

Jenny Bird with a picture of her daughter Prue.

The two had known each other since starting school 30 years before.

She called Jenny’s house in Glenroy. Jenny’s partner Issie answered and said Jenny had driven to Yarck, near Yea, to lock a shed for a relative.

Christine was so agitated she called Jenny’s relatives to ask if there was any way to contact her at Yarck. When Jenny got home just after noon she got Christine’s message and called her.

She assured her everything was all right and they laughed.

Jenny hung up and got ready to meet friends at the Glenroy pool.

Before she left, she looked in on Prue, who was asleep in her room.

It was the last time she would see her.

WAS THE BULLET A MESSAGE?

JENNY never really thought Prue had run away. She hoped so with all her heart but that was a mother’s love and hope. Mother’s intuition screamed that the worst had happened.

When Jenny got back from the pool, Prue’s bed was empty. A plate of corn was on the table, ready to eat but untouched. Prue’s handbag with her make-up and hair brush was still there.

Jenny forced herself not to panic. She told herself Prue had gone off suddenly with her best friend Melissa.

Prue Bird with grandmother Julie Hetzel.

She called Melissa’s house but no one was home. She prayed it was a sign the girls were together. But it wasn’t like Prue not to leave a note.

Jenny was worried. But when she finally spoke to Melissa later that evening she became terrified.

Melissa had been out with her parents and had not heard from Prue all day.

Jenny called triple-0. Uniformed police arrived from Broadmeadows after midnight. They said kids ran away all the time.

But next morning an alert policewoman checked the database and saw enough to warn headquarters it could be an abduction. She was the first of several police to read the signs correctly but it seemed the message was ignored high up.

Three officers from the Missing Persons unit came the next day. They weren’t detectives, though. Nobody at Missing Persons was, then. But they didn’t need to be sleuths to find the .22 calibre bullet on the floor of Prue’s room.

Jenny didn’t have ammunition in the house and regularly vacuumed the room. The police were unsure but Jenny saw the bullet as a message.

She had reason to fear Prue was not just another runaway. Her family had fallen under the influence of a man she didn’t trust and would come to hate.

For part two of the Prue Bird story, listen to next week’s Life and Crimes podcast.

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